Hola de España!

This week has gone by SO fast! My dad and I have been having lots of fun exploring Germany, Austria, and now Spain.

On Monday, my dad and I took a two-hour train ride to see the Neuschwanstein castle. It was absolutely beautiful! We went up to the top of the castle. The view was amazing! There was a second castle, Hohenschwangau, which was also in the village that we got to see. While not as impressive as Neuschwanstein, it was still beautiful! The small village it was located in was amazing, and it was awesome to walk through all of the shops. This was probably our favorite day of the trip so far.

We then took a train to Salzburg and spend the day there on Tuesday and Wednesday. We toured the Hohensalzburg Fortress, which was super cool. We had no idea how large the entire fortress was until we got up there. Again, the view was amazing. We walked passed the birthplace of Mozart and explored the town.

On Wednesday, we took an all day tour to famous Sound of Music sites and the small town of Hallstatt. We visited where some of the gazebo scenes were filmed – they actually used three different gazebos throughout the filming! We also saw the real von Trapp house, where some of the convent scenes were filmed, and the back yard and lake used for the von Trapp house. Unfortunately, it was a snowy and foggy day. The roads were terrible and pretty scary. The view in Hallstatt was not nearly as nice as it usually is, but it was very beautiful in the snow still.

Yesterday, we flew to Madrid!  I am so excited to get to explore the city I will spend the next four months in.

Today is the feast of the Epiphany, which is widely celebrated holiday in Spain. Most of the city closes down for the holiday. Madrid has a famous Three Kings Parade that we went to last night. Let me just say, I have never been to a parade like this before.

The crowd was absolutely massive. Parents brought big ladders so that their kids could see over the crowds of people. The floats were beautiful and huge. My favorites included the giant balloons that had a woman hanging from them and the three massive and colorful three kings floats.

My dad and I will continue to explore the city tomorrow, and then I will move into my new home on Sunday!

Katie